Trolley-wheel guard.



H. L. MILLER.

TROLLEY WHEEL GUARD. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 21, 1909.

Patented June 21, mm.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 awomm b L. MILLER.

TROLLEY WHEEL GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 21, 1909.

PatelitdJune 1910,

C Mi arm? HENRY L. MILLER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

TROLLEY-WI-IEEL GUARD.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Trolley-l/Vheel Guards, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to electric railways, and has special referenceto that class which is known as overhead or trolley.

An object of this invention is to provide a means by which the trolleywheel employed in connection with devices of this character may beprevented from disengagement with the wire when crossing like wires orfrom vibrations due to the traveling of the vehicle.

The invention has for a further object a novel means for resilientlybringing into play a guard by the striking of obstructions upon theguard disposed in operative position.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device of thischaracter which comprises but few working parts which renders the samesimple in construction and operation and economical to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription and it will be understood that changes in the specificstructure shown and described may be made within the scope of the claimswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which likenumerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a side elevation of a trolley harp having the improvementapplied thereto, Fig. 2 is a central sectional view of the same, Fig. 3is a rear elevation of the device, Fig. 4 is a top plan View of Fig. 1,Fig. 5 is a detailed view of the forked bracket employed in connectionwith the device.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a trolley pole which is of anysuitable construction upon the upper extremity of which is secured asleeve 11 which carries the arms 12 and 13 which form the trolley harpand between which is rotatably disposed a pulley 14 carried upon the pin9 having a peripheral groove formed therein. The pulley 14 is heldbetween the harp and is adapted to engage against the under side of thetrolley wire 15 and is prevented from displacement Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed September 21, 1909.

Patented June 21, 1910.

Serial No. 518,800.

from the same by means of the tridentate plates 16 and 17. The plates 16and 17 are held upon the pin 9 and are concentrically mounted with thepulley 14 but are supported against the outer faces of the arms 12 and13. The plates 16 and 17 are each provided with three projections 18, 19and 20 which are disposed in pairs and operate in parallel relationunder the tensions of springs 21 and 22 depended from the plates 16 and17, and engage at their lower extremities with a forked bracket 23. Theforked bracket 23 comprises a semicircular clamp 24 which engages theopposite sides of the sleeve 11 and extends rearwardly in a horizontalposition therefrom and carries the fork arms 25 and 26 which extend inparallel rearwardly and in alinement with the lower edges of the plates16 and 17 for the purpose of maintaining the springs 21 and 22 in avertical position. The prongs 18, 19 and 20 which are carried by theplates 16 and 17 are slightly offset toward the sides of the pulley 14and carry the angle faced heads 27 which extend over the edges of thepulley 14 and serve to guide the trolley wire 15 to the groove formed inthe pulley as the same is placed in position. The points of theprojections 18, 19 and 20 are disposed some distance laterally of therespective sides of the wheel 14 for the purpose of insuring a readyengagement of the trolley wire 15 during the manipulation of the device.The springs 21 and 22 are of equal tensions and are disposed in pairsupon the opposite sides of the trolley harp and serve to hold thecentral prongs 19 in a vertical position and in normal active position.

In use, the pulley 14 occasionally leaves the trolley wire 15, owing tothe vibrations of the pole 10, when the projections 19 which extendconsiderably above the pulley 14 engage the sides of the trolley wireand prevent the movement of the pulley 14 from lateral displacementbeneath the trolley wire 15. When the device reaches a cross wire theprojections 19 strike against the same and are thereby caused to bethrown backwardly admitting of the passage of the cross wire over thepulley 14 and at the same time raising the projections 18 to engage withthe trolley wire 15 and prevent the lateral displacement of the pulley14 during the passage of the object thereover. If the harp is operatedin the opposite direction the prongs 19 will be deflected oppositely andthe prongs 20 will be raised into 0perative position to engage againstthe opposite sides of the trolley wire 15 and would thus prevent thelateral displacement of the harp. Owing to the tensions of the springs21 and 22 the plates 16 and 17 are caused to return to their normalupright positions immediately upon the release of the prongs 19 fromengagement with the cross wire or' other obstructions.

What is claimed is:

A device of the class described comprising a trolley harp, a pair ofplates disposed in parallel upon the opposite sides of the harpconcentrically and pivotallymounted with the pulley disposed in saidharp, upwardly eX- tended projections disposed in parallel from saidplates projected over the edges of the pulley, project-ions disposed onsaid plates upon the opposite sides of said upwardly projectedprojections mounted in parallel and engaged about the edges of thepulley, all of said projections being diverged upwardly and outwardlyfrom the pulley and means for tensionally holding said upwardly extendedprojections in normal position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY L. MILLER.

Witnesses 7 PAUL KAssINe, JOHN KUNZ.

